NASA Is Canceling Its All-Female Spacewalk Due to Ill-Fitting Spacesuits

Two astronauts—both women—were slated to make history on March 29 by participating in the first all-female spacewalk. Then their wardrobe got in the way.

According to the BBC, NASA had to cancel the planned event at the International Space Station because of sizing issues related to one of the necessary spacesuits. It was discovered a little too late that both astronauts—Christina Koch and Anne McClain—needed spacesuits with a medium-sized hard upper torso. However, only one of the two medium-sized suits had been configured for a spacewalk. So instead of McClain stepping into outer space to install batteries at the space station, a male colleague, Nick Hague, will take her place alongside Koch.

"Anne trained in 'M' and 'L' and thought she could use a large but decided after [last] Friday's spacewalk a medium fits better," said Stephanie Schierholz, a NASA spokesperson. "In this case, it's easier (and faster!) to change space-walkers than reconfigure the spacesuit."

Part of the problem is that it's hard to find a proper fit before an astronaut has actually been in space. "Individuals' sizing needs may change when they are [in] orbit, in response to the changes living in microgravity can bring about in a body," Brandi Dean, a spokesperson for the Johnson Space Center in Houston, told the AFP.

In this case, McClain only learned she needed a smaller size while doing an actual spacewalk last Friday, making her the 13th woman to achieve this milestone. Koch will become the 14th woman during her planned spacewalk this week.

The news comes just two weeks after the head of NASA made headlines for stating that the first astronaut on Mars would likely be a woman. NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine also said a woman would likely be the next person to set foot on the Moon.

Does the Full Moon Really Make People Act Crazy?

Along with Mercury in retrograde, the full moon is a pretty popular scapegoat for bad luck and bizarre behavior. Encounter someone acting strangely? Blame it on the lunar phases! It's said that crime rates increase and emergency rooms are much busier during the full moon (though a 2004 study debunked this claim). Plus, there's that whole werewolf thing. Why would this be? The reasoning is that the moon, which affects the ocean's tides, probably exerts a similar effect on us, because the human body is made mostly of water.

This belief that the moon influences behavior is so widely held—reportedly, even 80 percent of nurses and 64 percent of doctors think it's true, according to a 1987 paper published in the Journal of Emergency Medicine [PDF]—that in 2012 a team of researchers at Université Laval's School of Psychology in Canada decided to find out if mental illness and the phases of the moon are linked [PDF].

To test the theory, the researchers evaluated 771 patients who visited emergency rooms at two hospitals in Montreal between March 2005 and April 2008. The patients chosen complained of chest pains, which doctors could not determine a medical cause for the pains. Many of the patients suffered from panic attacks, anxiety and mood disorders, or suicidal thoughts.

When the researchers compared the time of the visits to the phases of the moon, they found that there was no link between the incidence of psychological problems and the four lunar phases, with one exception: in the last lunar quarter, anxiety disorders were 32 percent less frequent. "This may be coincidental or due to factors we did not take into account," Dr. Geneviève Belleville, who directed the team of researchers, said. "But one thing is certain: we observed no full-moon or new-moon effect on psychological problems."

So rest easy (or maybe not): If people seem to act crazy during the full moon, their behavior is likely pretty similar during the rest of the lunar cycle as well.

Rare Harvest ‘Micromoon’ Will Appear on Friday the 13th

The first Friday the 13th of 2019 is coming this September, coinciding with a spooky full moon—and that unlucky event will also be a harvest micromoon, Newsweek reports. Here's everything you need to know about the lunar spectacle.

What is a harvest micromoon?

Harvest moon describes the full moon that appears in September. You may have heard that the harvest moon is larger and deeper in color than full moons that appear at different times of the year, but this isn't the case. The name harvest moon has nothing to do with its size or appearance. Many people observe the harvest moon just as it surfaces above the horizon—the time when it looks biggest due to the moon illusion, and reddish or orange-y through the filter of Earth's atmosphere. But as the moon climbs higher in the sky throughout the night, these characteristics fade away—just as they would at any other time of year.

This year, the harvest moon will actually look smaller compared to other full moons. On Friday, September 13, the celestial body reaches its apogee, or the point in its orbit where it's farthest from Earth. It has been dubbed a micromoon, which is the opposite of a supermoon.

When to see the harvest micromoon

Besides its scaled-down appearance, Friday's moon won't look any different from a regular full moon. But its rare conjunction with Friday the 13th makes it an event that anyone with a superstitious side won't want to miss. The moon will achieve maximum fullness at 12:33 a.m. the morning of Saturday, September 14 in the Eastern time zone (earlier the further west you go), but it will appear full and bright the previous and following nights. To catch the mini-moon on the 13th, look up late Friday night in a place with minimal light pollution. And if you want the full harvest moon effect, look to the horizon just after moonrise at 7:33 p.m.